Did Sacramento have a 'normal' water year?

Who would have guessed? Our weird water year is coming to a soggy close.

Thursday (Sept. 22) marks the first day of fall, the start of a new season but the wrap-up of our water year – 12 months of seasonal moisture.

After the driest spring in Sacramento history and a bone-dry summer, Sacramento may actually have nearly normal totals for our 2021-22 water year, which ends Sept. 30.

Summer departed with an unexpected splash as thunderstorms rolled over the region. Including Monday’s downpours, Sacramento has collected 17.55 inches since Oct. 1, 2021. That’s 97% of average (18.14 inches) for a Sacramento water year.

That total is deceiving: Most of this water year’s moisture fell last October and December. Other than major rain events in those two months, storm systems have been sporadic at best. That’s left soil (and plant life) extremely dry.

So even though the overall numbers don’t look so bad, we’re still in a drought.

Our unusual September storm system delivered a lot of rain to some parts of the Sacramento region but hardly a trickle in others.

“The hit or miss nature of these storms means some areas saw a lot of rain and others didn't see much at all,” says the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service.

On Monday, Sacramento International Airport received 1.01 inches while Downtown Sacramento received only 0.37. Davis recorded 2.95 inches while Stockton rainfall measured just 0.07 inches.

Normal for our region for the first two weeks on September: 0.06 inches.

Tuesday and Wednesday, more spotty storms soaked some areas while skirting others. Rain totals differed from one neighborhood to the next. (My own backyard rain gauge in Sacramento’s Pocket neighborhood measures more than 2 inches from this week.)

How can you tell if your landscape got enough water?

Check soil with a moisture meter to see if your ground soaked up some of that free water. Or just look – and feel. Take a 6-inch trowel and dig; does the soil look dark and moist a few inches below the surface? If soil won’t clump in your hand, it needs more water.

Areas under protection – from big evergreen trees or structures – may have gotten less moisture from these storms. Check those spots, too.

If your landscape got a good soaking, take advantage of this storm and give your sprinklers a break. Turn off your irrigation system. For every inch of rain, wait a week to irrigate.

For more on local weather and rain totals: